Shrewsbury coffee shop owner recounts robbery suspect's arrest

SHREWSBURY — The first time the armed masked robber came into the coffee shop Hilary K. Lane opened eight months ago, she was in disbelief. The second time, the 27-year-old got angry.

Blue Coast Coffee on South Street was robbed twice in four days. Both robberies occurred during daylight at the shop, which is in a high-traffic area, with about a dozen customers and a few employees in the shop.

Ms. Lane said the first robbery, about 10:30 last Sunday morning, felt surreal.

"My initial reaction was I didn't think it was real," the Westboro resident said. "I thought someone was playing a bad joke. And then when I saw the knife in his hand, I realized it was serious."

She said she moved to the side of the cash register so the man could grab cash from it. Then, the robber turned and ran out the door, she said.

He returned on Thursday during a busy lunchtime, again masked, with a knife.

This time she was making sandwiches near the side of the register.

"It was the exact same circumstances," she said. "He demanded cash, my employee opened the register and he took the cash and started running."

But, instead of going to her phone to call the police like the first time, she said she started yelling.

"I'm not really sure what I was saying, but I think it was, 'Somebody do something,' " she said. "That is why he got out the first time because nobody knew what they were seeing. He kept the knife pretty subtle so customers out front didn't see he had it. He didn't raise a panic. I think people were confused and didn't react right away because they didn't realize what was going on."

When she started yelling, a "whole group" of customers tackled him and pinned him face down, she said.

"I ran out front because I knew he had a knife and I wasn't sure anyone else knew he did," she said. "My focus was making sure he didn't have the knife or getting it away from him."

The knife was still in his hand, she said.

"People were trying to pin him down and were focused on his body," she said. "His hand was pinned with the knife still in it. I just started bashing at his hand with my fingers to get him to drop it. It lasted about a couple of seconds and he dropped it and I swatted it out of the way and ran and grabbed it and put it on a counter and ran back to check on the employees."

Police arrived and arrested Joseph S. Kuntz, 32, of 38 Yorkshire Terrace, Apt. 6. An investigation determined that Mr. Kuntz was the suspect in the robbery of the store July 27. He is charged with two counts of armed and masked robbery, two counts of kidnapping, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment in Westboro District Court Friday pending the outcome of a dangerousness hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Ms. Lane said she has no idea who Mr. Kuntz is. No one was hurt during either incident, police said.

"I just acted," she said. "After the first time it happened, it left me with a frustrated feeling that he hadn't been caught. We felt perfectly safe coming back to work because no one thought he would come back, again."

She said now that Mr. Kuntz has been arrested, she feels safe. The building is also equipped with high-quality surveillance equipment, she said.